My Fertility Update
June 24, 2019 11:56 AM

When I last wrote, it had been almost 9 months without any luck of pregnancy. That is when I decided to go to Juno Fertility Clinic in Waterloo and get some cycle monitoring done. This is when they take blood and do an internal ultrasound every 2 days to see how the follicles are maturing and when you are ovulating. The process is quite tedious and tiresome.

After having completed the cycle monitoring portion and all the blood work as well as my husband’s sperm analysis, we had a consultation with the Dr. Bendov, OBGYN. He revealed that he didn’t know why I had had the previous 2 miscarriages but went on to say that a reason why I wasn’t getting pregnant was probably because my husband only has 1% normal looking sperm!

Did you know that a sperm sample can be 96% abnormal (ie 4% normal) and be considered a normal sample? Because of the low normal looking sperm (morphology), he suggested we do IUI (intra-uterine insemination). This is when they spin the sperm and select only the normal sperm, add something to it to make sure they swim straight and then insert it in the uterus once they’ve determined the female is ovulating. This would be yet another round of cycle monitoring.

I advised the nurse that I’d like to take a break from all the poking for about 3 months. This would give us enough time to help with the sperm quality by taking supplements, avoiding heat and wifi to the scrotal area. If we still can’t get pregnant then we’ll do IUI.

Optimizing Sperm Health

It takes 3 months for sperm to develop

The mitochondria (power house of every cell), free radicals and the immune system play a role in sperm health

Free radicals can damage sperm cells. Therefore, it’s important to eat a diet rich in anti-oxidants

Antioxidants and Nutrients:

CoQ10

Acetyl-L-Carnitine

N-acetylcysteine

Selenium,Zinc & Vitamin C

Vitamin B12 & Folate

Things to avoid

Alcohol

BPA (plastics, receipts)

Foods high in pesticides (purchase the dirty dozen foods as organic)

Fish high in heavy metals (large fish ie tuna)

Heat and WiFi to the scrotum

About a week later, the nurse calls me and tells me I am pregnant! She was just as surprised as me. We were very lucky to not have to do any further interventions. Now let’s pray everything is healthy and normal.